1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to improved automation in the home and business and in particular to a method and a system for voice control of devices. Still more particularly, the present invention provides a method and a system for plug-and-play voice control capability exploiting service discovery mechanisms available in the network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Voice control of devices has been investigated for some time and devices are marketed that can respond to simple commands. For example, a cell phone may have a voice controlled directory where telephone numbers are automatically dialed by speaking the name of the person to be called. Often these devices are quite simple and can only respond to a limited number of commands. Rarely can such devices provide help to guide the user through a complex sequence of voice commands.
The technology for voice control is fairly well understood but can be very expensive for a sophisticated system of command and control that supports verbal interactions with the user. As a minimum, such a system would require a microphone, a voice recognition system, a control system for operations performed by voice command, a speech generation system, a speaker, and a microprocessor to coordinate the various activities. To embed this level of sophistication into a simple household device, such as a microwave, or a simple business device, such as a dictation machine, would be prohibitively expensive.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have voice enabled devices that provide sophisticated voice control, that are capable of interacting with a user, that are plugged in and work immediately, yet devices that are affordable for a typical consumer.
A method and system provide control for a set of devices through voice commands of a user. Devices are registered within a zone using a service discovery protocol. At the time of registration, a device sends a grammar and a set of help sequences to a control unit in the zone to be merged into a composite grammar and composite set of help sequences. Typically transmission is via a power line information transfer protocol when the device is plugged in or connected, although any means of data communication will suffice. The voice recognition and voice generation hardware and software are shared between all devices within a zone. If the voice command issued by a user is recognized, an appropriate method invocation is sent to the device to perform the desired operation. If the device in the voice command is recognized but the operation is not recognized, then the user is provided with a help sequence on how to properly perform operations with the device. If the device is not recognized, the command is forwarded to another zone within a set of zones until either the device is found or no such device is located. This voice command system can be used in multiple zones of a residence, in multiple zones of a business, or in multiple zones of any xe2x80x9cspacexe2x80x9d occupied by the user, such as an automobile.